Berwick lawmaker running for top spot in Maine GOP

BERWICK, Maine — Beth O'Connor, a waitress and freshman lawmaker who was defeated in this month's election, is campaigning diligently to become the next leader of the Maine GOP.

Members of the state Republican party are hoping to put a period of internal turmoil behind them when they elect a new state party leader this weekend.

Committee members will meet Saturday in Augusta to choose between two candidates for the party chairmanship: O'Connor, of Berwick, who lost her bid for a second House term this November; and Rich Cebra, who's completed four years as state representative from Naples.

Campaigning has been intense in the days leading up to Saturday's chairmanship, said state committee member Vic Berardelli of Newburgh, a Cebra supporter who's been getting an average of four or five calls per day on behalf of the candidates.

The election features a party mainstreamer in Cebra and longtime Ron Paul supporter in O'Connor. But party activists say the race is more complicated than a runoff to decide whether the party is controlled by Ron Paul followers or more traditional GOP forces.

“We're looking for a leader who's going to bring the various factions together,” said Berardelli.

After building personal relationships with a host of party members during her two years in office, O'Connor sees herself as someone capable of fostering that unity within the party.

The 54-year-old, who is married with four children, has lived in Berwick for 12 years. She is the state representative for House District 145, which includes Berwick and part of Lebanon. She served on the Health and Human Services Committee.

The winner of Saturday's party contest will replace outgoing GOP Chairman Charlie Webster. Now a controversial figure, Webster is credited with engineering sweeping Republican gains in 2010. But he later led a party tarnished by unproven voter fraud charges, and weakened by a gaping rift between party factions. It was set back by big losses in State House, U.S. Senate and congressional races in this fall's elections.

“I thought, 'Maybe I can be a peacemaker,' and unite us so we can work together to push forward our fiscally conservative values,'” O'Connor said Thursday.

O'Connor's past political experience includes eight years serving on the SAD 60 board of directors, the group that oversees local schools. She also has experience in banking and real estate, and currently works as a waitress at Fogarty's, a restaurant in South Berwick.

“It keeps me in touch with the people,” she said during an interview Thursday. “It keeps me grounded.”

Although she draws support from the tea party camp and Ron Paul backers, O'Connor describes herself as a strict constitutionalist. She is pro-life and favors “traditional marriage,” but said her legislative priorities center around fiscal conservatism.

“I think that we need to have more fiscally responsible leaders, and I think we need to show fiscal responsibility as a better way forward to a better quality of life,” she said.

Matt McDonald of Belfast, a “liberty activist” who went to the GOP national convention as a Paul delegate but lost his seat when the party awarded half of Maine's delegates to Mitt Romney, is urging committee members to support O'Connor, although he will not be on the state committee soon enough to vote.

But McDonald said that all liberty activists won't necessarily flock to O'Connor's side, just as all establishment Republicans aren't a slam dunk for Cebra. If there's one unifying factor among the committee members, it's the belief that “it's time for Charlie Webster to move on,” said McDonald.

O'Connor previously chaired the group Maine Taxpayers United, which has pushed for lower taxes. Fellow member Jack Wibby described O'Connor as a hard worker and terrific legislator who has a knack for fostering personal relationships.

“She's very good at working with people ...” he said. “She listens very well, and she takes into consideration what is going on.”

If she prevails, O'Connor said she hopes to unify the party's factions and use new technology to broadcast the party's message.

“I want to be able to embrace that technology, and to be able to understand wins, losses demographics — and I want to be able to understand every bit of that to be able to put it into to focus to be able to better deliver the Republican message in the future.”

Cebra did not return a call from Foster's seeking comment. In an email to The Associated Press, Cebra wrote, “Out of respect for the state committee, the intraparty nature of the issue, and the overall party process, I don't believe it would be appropriate for me to comment at this time.” Cebra said he would comment after Saturday's vote.

His website says Cebra was a member of the 2008 Maine Republican Platform Committee, is a former member of the Maine Republican State Committee and was elected in 2008 as the Cumberland County Republican Committee chairman.

He has also picked up an endorsement from one of Maine's most prominent Republicans, Gov. Paul LePage.

Candidates mentioned for vice chair include Stavros Mendros of Lewiston, a Ron Paul supporter, and Traci Gauthier, who's been executive director of the Lincoln Lakes Region Chamber of Commerce in Penobscot County.

Foster's staff writer Jim Haddadin and The Associated Press contributed to this report.